Only I Can Adapt: Genetic Evolution System-Chapter 52: Unyielding Adaptation

His muscles tensed as he poured out all the cold he could, swallowing the burning flames in the icy. As much as it wore him out, with a quick breath, he expelled any exhaustion, knowing what was coming next.

With the uniform on his torso long since burned away, leaving his skin exposed to the elements, he felt the air that was conflicted between hot and cold as he moved. He dashed into the street, not having to squint to find the brightly-burning figure erupting towards his position from a few blocks down.

’I can’t fight like I’m just a normal person. My body has changed, it’s adapted–if I want to confront a fulminare of his status, I have to move like one,’ he thought.

As the golden man flew across the barren city like a firework, his eyes led him to the nearest object in his vicinity–a small, teal car. He stabbed his fingers through the door as though it were brittle foam, lifting the vehicle with little effort, tossing it ahead like a simple baseball.

Everything around him was simply part of the battle; a tool to be used–the environment itself had to serve as his weapon. The thrown car was blown through by the incoming fulminare, though that much was expected.

He pressed his boot into the asphalt, shattering it and giving way to a sudden rise of ice that ascended meters into the air in a sharp formation. It intercepted the path of the flaming figure, though a single wave of Ignatius’ arm cast the frost into shards.

Nothing stood in the fulminare’s path as the man of fire crashed down, leading with his fist. Seven held his ground, throwing his arm upward with all of the strength he had–

The impact roared through the burnt city, sending a shock wave that made the dormant vehicles jump in a parade.

[Kinetic energy absorbed to maximum limit | Surpassing threshold]

A gasp escaped through his clenched teeth as he found himself being pushed down with the ground caving in beneath his foot. The larger knuckles pressed against his own with meteoric might.

Through the marrow of his bone, the boundless strength behind the fulminare was felt thoroughly, rippling down his arm. Both forces clashed, recoiling through both parties as a secondary whiplash separated them.

He slid back with his arm left reddened and aching, clenching his fist as all of the discomfort was washed away by the throttling adrenaline coursing through his veins. As he sprinted forward, leaping over the parade of cars in his path to meet the enemy halfway, his body adapted once more–

At the core of his mind, one figure embodied the very concept of physical strength; the first fulminare he faced–"Larios."

[Spontaneous Evolution: "Fulminare Constituion"]

"I’m not letting you destroy anything! Not anymore!--" Seven claimed, backing up his words as he took the initiative, kicking off the ground.

He led with his shoulder, ramming it against the jaw of the incoming man of fire. It was more than simply "budging" the once immovable force as he watched Ignatius flinch from the harsh strike. In that brief moment having claimed the first move, he drove his knee into the fulminare’s chest with a thunderous impact.

Without holding anything back in his strike, the residual force shook the winds with a howl as he launched the destroyer back. While the golden warrior bounced off the roofs of the dormant vehicles, it was only a triumphant moment as the fulminare corrected his own momentum.

Ignatius exhaled sharply without any marks left on his perfect frame, "Do not get arrogant. I have merely been enjoying myself so far, allowing myself to see what kind of warrior you are. I will now fight you earnestly–with the intent to destroy."

The air changed before the meaning of the words were cemented in the lone human’s soul. He came to a stop amidst his pursuit just as an extraordinary heat flexed throughout the block. All at once, a red-hot complexion overwhelmed the looming dusk.

It felt like time stopped; the breath in his lungs froze, all as his body hardened itself out of instinct–

"Pyuh!"

It was the right choice; by the time his brain reacted, he was already slammed into a building a block away, only feeling the impact echoing through his body.

’I couldn’t even perceive him...!’ He thought, rolling onto his feet.

Across the city, the vehicles of the UNED sped off, though not quite far away, not nearly out of the destructive range of the burning fulminare. Seven sensed it, knowing in his heart that there still wasn’t enough time, not nearly.

’The more I adapt, it just seems like he gets stronger–no, this guy is just playing around. He might act stoic, but he’s like the rest of his kind–he lives for battle. Right now, I bet a part of him is hoping I keep getting stronger. Well, I’ll indulge that wish,’ he decided.

Wiping the blood from his nose, he stood on the tilted floor of the abandoned office building, bending his knees before propelling himself forward. Through the wall, he shot like a rocket, throwing himself into the open air without any sense of where his enemy was.

[Adapting to restrictions in movement...]

With the speed he moved across the city, he flipped himself around, using the side of a skyscraper to halt his momentum as his boots slammed into the black slate.

As he looked around quickly, he struggled to find a glimpse of the Fulminare’s position, only a burning fireball that closed in.

Launching from the building, he felt a distinct shift in his body—

[Spontaneous Adaptation: "Air Step"]

As the skyscraper he left was blown through by the heat, he looked ahead, finding another projectile homing in. There was no sign of Ignatius, only the deliverances of ungodly fire.

He pressed his foot against the air as if it were a solid foothold, propelling himself upward to shift his direction.

It was a bit hard to control himself when practically bouncing higher, waving his arms to stabilize himself. As he scraped his foot along the air, manipulating the weightless space to slow his descent, a glimmer of light burned into his view.

’There,’ he found.

Just discovering the fulminare’s position wasn’t enough, as the moment the thought raced across his mind, the figure sped through like a falling meteor. He crossed his arms to shield himself, though the impact instantly dragged him back down to the ground.

A breathless gasp left his lips as he was shoved into the asphalt with a blistering impact, swallowed in a great expanse of heat. Every cell in his body worked to resist being burned as he kicked his foot against the abdomen of the golden figure.

It took a few attempts before shoving Ignatius away, giving him the space to jump to his feet and slide back. He left the spiral of fire with a cough, looking towards it with a readied stance– 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Far too quickly, it came; a ray of condensed energy erupted from the smoke, dashing across his right side before his body could perceive it.

"Ah–?"

His mind didn’t process it as he looked over, nor did any pain surface, yet he saw it with his own eyes: nothing was left of one side of his body.

[Extreme damage done to internal organs | Forty-two percent of body mass lost.]

Hearing the system in his brain, the sound of it faded by his breath, only able to gasp even as half of his lungs had been incinerated. Even as he stood there with a chunk gone of his body, he felt a surprising calmness.

Somehow, he knew what he had to do.

As his blurred vision led his eyes downward, he reached into his pocket with his last remaining arm, retrieving from it the gift of his comrade–

The shard taken from the nebulous cube. It pulsated in his palm, emitting a hum that echoed through his bones.

’I remember...I touched that cube, then I passed out. When I woke up, those fulminare around me were dead. The only explanation is...I did that, somehow. But, it happened when I touched that cube. I have to do it again–it’s the only way,’ he resolved.

Ahead of him was a city on fire, being loomed over by the blazing sky that would soon turn it all to ash, turn everybody he knew to nothingness. With the bloodied remnants of his body struggling to recoup, he clenched the sharp and his teeth, raising it.

’It’s not nearly enough yet. If this monster intends on wiping out this entire region, then I haven’t bought enough time. I need more...more time, more power,’ he adamantly wished.

In his mind, flashing through a thousand deaths with the scent of death closing in, memories of his brief, yet meaningful time at the academy surfaced. The welcoming smile of May, the brotherly support of Alexander, and even the quiet mentorship of Shin.

It had to be protected.